An Unexpected Call
by Riku-Rocks
Summary: A blocked number on a caller ID is usually unsurprising. To Matt, it is. The brief conversation that follows will set him on the path to justice or destruction, for becoming involved in the Kira case can only end in one or the other. Contains spoilers.


_Warning: Spoilers _

_Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Death Note._

_Author's Note: This is not my best work, but it is also my first time writing this fandom and the characters are admittedly more complex and less explained than the others I usually write. I wrote this because all the stories I have read that explain how Matt entered the story have yet to suggest this concept and it makes the most sense to me (and because the plot wouldn't leave my head until I wrote it out, so I might as well post it). I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading._

* * *

Matt blinked and hit pause on his PSP when he heard his phone ring. He immediately checked the caller ID, as it was highly unusual for him to receive a phone call.

Even more unusual, was for the ID to read 'blocked'.

The redhead did not simply buy a phone equipped with a caller ID, activate it, and call it a day as most people did. Being the technological genius that he was, he had made some improvements. Among some precautions for his own privacy, if a number that should have been blocked called, his customised system would automatically hack the line and tell him who was calling anyway. For it to read blocked, the person on the other end must have prepared their system for him…and there were only two people who could have done that.

Matt answered as soon as his mind reached that conclusion. The phone had only rung twice more. "Hello?"

"Hello Matt." The voice was scrambled; not to the extent that L's would have been, but enough that one would not recognise the true voice hiding underneath the electronic one unless they were already familiar with it. However, _very_ few people were familiar with that voice.

Matt recognised it right away.

His mind conjured memories of a small, fair boy, with pale clothes and hair, playing silently by himself in a corner while the other kids ran and laughed as though there were not an odd man out.

"Near…" He knew he should not be surprised. Near had always known where he was…he just never expected the odd teenager to contact him.

The voice on the other end of the line paused briefly. "Nine forty-five Clydown Avenue, Los Angeles, California, nine zero one zero three." Without question or thought, Matt grabbed a Post-It pad and (ironically, he thought) a Lego pen and scratched down the address.

"Okay, I recognise this area but it'll take a while to get there. What am I looking for?" The redhead noticed a small sound, which might have been a release of breath. He decided that Near was relieved; and between that and the abrupt information, he concluded that the pale teen was doing this (whatever it was) as Near instead of _L_.

"There was an explosion." Between the teenager's usual soft, monotonic voice and the scrambler, Matt could not detect any emotion in the statement. Nonetheless, he knew this was important to the boy…Near would not have called him if it was not. "Mello was there."

Green eyes blinked behind yellow tinted goggles. "What…?" He shook himself mentally; if Near was acting as _Near_, then he could not let whoever was working for _L_ know about the phone call, which meant they were short on time. Asking if the elder had survived was pointless anyway, as Near would have started by stating that Mello was dead if that were the case.

There are only so many ways to blow up a building by accident, and Matt knew that Mello would not make such a mistake, nor would he surround himself with those who would. If he was there, it was deliberate. "He's in trouble, then?"

"Yes. He premeditated the detonation." This fact meant more to the two speaking than anyone else would have gathered from the information, for aside from being unusually intelligent and having incredible deductive skills, they both knew Mello. If he planned the explosion, then he was both cornered and had an escape route in mind. Near's phone call was all the proof Matt needed to accept that Mello had succeeded in executing it, but that did not mean he had escaped scot-free.

"He's on his own now, isn't he?" asked Matt.

"Yes."

"Can't you get in touch with him?" questioned the gamer. He understood that all of this meant the other was probably injured severely and alone somewhere and assisting the chocoholic would be easier if he knew what condition he was going to find the blonde man in when he got there.

"We both know he will never cooperate with me." Matt nodded his understanding to no one. Near had already told him that he had wanted them to serve as L together, but Mello had refused. The blonde man would not simply accept any assistance form the boy now.

"Yeah;" The green-eyed man decided he would not mention that Near had basically sent him to Mello after he found him. He knew he did not have to request the same of Near. The teen would probably never mention Matt when he and Mello next spoke to one another anyway.

There was a small shuffling sound through the distorted connection. "I cannot stay on the line."

"I understand," replied the redhead. He was already packing. "I'll find him."

"Please proceed with extreme caution," was the scrambled response. Matt understood the meaning behind the oddly formal and emotionless words. Most would have said 'please be careful' in a concerned tone or something among those lines, but Near was too awkward socially for even that.

The green-eyed young man smirked ever so slightly. "I will."

"Thank you, Matt." Near's voice had grown softer. The redhead understood that he was saying goodbye…L had to get back to work.

"Yeah," the gamer had an odd feeling about what he most likely going to become involved in. "See you on the other side."

The line went dead and Matt hung up only a few seconds after. He glanced at his watch and saw that the conversation had only taken a couple of minutes. He continued packing quickly, mostly various electronics and first aid supplies, and then got in his car.

As he drove, Matt considered how much time would pass between the explosion and his arrival at the site, and decided where he would start in search for Mello. He doubted the blonde man would have gotten far.

He sighed heavily as he thought of how much this incident must have increased Mello's emotionally driven desire to top Near. He wondered if the blonde man had realised yet that they would be working as a unit in either case.

In the end, it did not matter. Matt was going to help them catch Kira…not get involved in an old rivalry.

He decided not to calculate the odds of Mello's rabid need to top the pale boy getting them both killed. He doubted the teen had another unexpected rescuer in his pocket.

Of course, he would never say never when it came to Near.


End file.
